Restaurants

Long Island

The local culinary scene of Long Island is evolving with the same sense of confidence as the region's wines. The Hamptons have long boasted fashionable restaurants and creative chefs, but the once-sleepy North Fork is coming into its own. Fresh and local are hot terms for many chefs here, including Erik Orlowski of Fifth Season, who believes in always promoting Long Island, and Tom Colicchio, whose restaurant at Topping Rose House boasts produce from its one-acre garden. With great local game, seafood and vegetables, plus wine, Long Island is truly a locavore's dream.

Please note that owners, chefs, menu items, prices and other details can often change. We recommend that you call ahead before you go.

This popular and friendly Bridgehampton bistro offers homey but upscale French cuisine. Chef and co-owner Jason Weiner serves dishes such as steamed black mussels with shallots, garlic, parsley and white wine and le grand macaroni and cheese with prosciutto and summer truffles. The wine list focuses on French and American wines, with a few Long Island options. Save room for the chocolate pot de crème, which is served with whipped crème fraîche and house smoked almonds.

Less than a block from Peconic Bay and close to many of the North Fork wineries, this small inn is a smart spot for weekend lunch. The two dining rooms and adjoining bar inside the clapboard house are warm if simple. The lunch menu centers on the local seafood bounty—clams, shrimp and mussels—plus some standards such as burgers and fish and chips. Try the fresh crab cakes with rémoulade sauce or sirloin au poivre. The wine list offers some Long Island selections by the glass, and the adjoining bar is quite popular with locals. Bayview accepts Visa and Mastercard, but not American Express.

Fifth Season has a patio overlooking the town and a harbor room with views of the water.

Chefs Erik Orlowski and John Urbanati believe in Long Island’s natural bounty, focusing on local ingredients such as duck, fish and vegetables for their seasonally changing menus. Their wives, Jeniffer Orlowski and Deborah Urbinati, work the front of the house and have put together a drinks list that offers approximately a dozen Long Island wines and a dozen-plus beers from New York craft breweries, plus seasonal cocktails. The dining room is warm and inviting, with a patio, views of the harbor and a cozy fireplace.

Guests rave about the Frisky Oyster's play on Oysters Rockefeller, Oysters Friskafella.

This is about as close to SoHo or South Beach as the North Fork gets. Inside an old storefront on Greenport’s main street, the Frisky Oyster has an upscale cocktail bar and modern dining room. The food is contemporary American, with influences from around the globe. Appetizers include a lobster quesadilla with heirloom tomato sauce, while the entrée list offers dishes such as pan-seared sea scallops with oven-roasted tomato risotto and baby greens up to a prime 28-ounce tomahawk ribeye. The spotlight dish of the house, though, is Frisky Oyster's play on Oysters Rockefeller, Oysters Friskafella with spinach, garlic, chipotle and parmesan.

Stone Creek Inn holds an Award of Excellence for its wine list, which features many Long Island bottlings.

Christian Mir and Elaine DiGiacomo met while working in the kitchen at Tavern on the Green, got married and opened this warm, friendly restaurant in 1996. Mir’s food is seasonal and takes advantage of local seafood and produce. Appetizers include grilled Portuguese octopus with espelette pepper, while seasonal entrées might include crisp soft-shell crab with spring vegetable fricassee, faro, capers and lemon-butter sauce. The wine list, a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner, offers plenty of variety with more than a dozen Long Island wines.

New York City chef/restaurateur and North Fork resident Tom Colicchio, of Top Chef fame, brings his seasonal American fare to the East End, aiming for dining excellence while still exhibiting the relaxed vibe of the Hamptons. The menu, under the guidance of chef de cuisine Kyle Koenig, offers appetizers, pastas and entrées over two pages. A third page lists the hotel's numerous local purveyors as well as highlighting the bounty from their 1-acre farm on the hotel’s grounds. Dish descriptions reverse the usual order: The added flavors and flourishes come first, with the main protein almost an afterthought, as if to say it's what you do with a variety of great ingredients—not just the centerpiece—that makes the meal. Beverage director Jessica Koenig, the chef de cuisine’s wife, oversees a wine list that includes international and domestic selections, with an emphasis on Long Island wines.

Village Cheese Shop sells by the pound, but also offers cheese plates, sandwiches and fondue for two.

Located on Mattituck’s picturesque Love Lane, this shop has a small seating area where you can order a cheese or charcuterie plate, sandwich, or fondue and a glass of French or New York wine for lunch. Or take lunch out the door for a picnic at one of the wineries. Several of the cheese plates focus on New York producers and come with cornichons, apples, prosciutto or fresh peach chutney. The fondue and raclette come in portions perfect for two people.

There aren't any wineries on Shelter Island but Vine Street Cafe fills the void with a stellar wine list.

Chefs Terry Harwood and Lisa Murphy met at Union Square Cafe in Manhattan. After marrying, they opened this popular spot together, a simple house on the twisting main road of Shelter Island, which lies between the North Fork and the Hamptons and is reachable by a short ferry ride. Harwood makes dinner, while Murphy handles the desserts. Try the miso-glazed salmon or bouillabaisse for dinner, but after tasting the chocolate gâteau for dessert, you might refuse to leave.

For Long Island restaurants that hold Wine Spectator awards for their wine lists, see our Restaurant Search.